Protesters held a “Let the people vote” rally in Manhattan on Sunday, they believe overturning the gay marriage law in New York is possible because of what happened in California. Protestors say the gay marriage bill was approved in June without the vote from the people. Lawmakers said New Yorkers would vote to ban gay marriage if they were allowed to vote on the issue.

Hector A. Chiesa , president of the largest Christian Spanish radio station in New York said it would take some time to overturn the gay marriage law because those lawmakers who supported the law must first be voted out of office in the 2012 election” The Law cannot be changed this year, but will take another year or so because we will first try to vote out both Democratic and Republican lawmakers who voted in favor of this law” he went on to say “California had approved the law, but there was a referendum to the people and in the election, we won and abolished the law. I believe it can succeed in New York State. So we must continue to fight, which is only the beginning”. Not all protestors were against the bill they just believed the people should have a say in the matter.

The National Organization of Marriage states the process would take up to three years and over thirty states have constitutional amendments banning gay marriage. Californians can directly petition for the gay marriage issue to be placed on the ballot, making it easier to overturn the law, but in New York it is simply the majority of senate and house votes that could place the issue on the ballot, then the law can be overturned if the people get an approved constitutional amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman.